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2009 version
The 2009 version of Westbury Detectives was a short-lived incarnation of the series, one that completely remade the setting and characters from the ground up. The series focused more on Pinhead's gang most of the time, and after complications with character handling, it was remade into what became the current comic version. In this version, Westbury is an enormous metropolis. Summary Jack Arthur has just been fired from his bookstore clerk position after he runs out on the job to save a woman from a kidnapping, but the Chief of Police, Bachman, likes his style and suggests he apply to the city's detective agency. He does so and is immediately recruited, although the lead detective's daughter Becky dislikes him profoundly. Meanwhile, British bagman Pinhead Harewood arrives to make a partnership with the robotic catburglar Haut Gunstlich, which turns out to be the young Emma Bishop in a robot suit, accompianied by her two assistants. Pinhead and his new but small gang kidnap Becky for ransom and it's up to Jack to bring her back. From there, Pinhead goes about rescuing his mentor from jail, reuniting with an old love, and raising an orphaned pickpocket boy, while Jack must defend the city from a variety of criminals. Characters *'Jack Arthur': Far meeker than his comic version, refusing to touch cigarettes or alcohol, but quite willing to use a special laser-stun gun. At one point, he has to really force himself to become seductive towards Huntress Zuno. *'Mara Wright': Practically identical to her comic version, although she's able to pack a pistol and at one point races a police car. *'Edward Byrd': A little chubbier than his comic version, and with a slight crush on Jack instead of Roger. *'Becky Byrd': Very girly and energetic, constantly followed by her pet floating robot. She's extremely hyper and tags along on cases just to hang out with Jack and tease him. *'Peter "Pinhead" Harewood': He appears to be an older version of his Cinderelliot version, except British. He's rather sane, his fighting doesn't go beyong basic kicking and punching, and prefers to keep his gang small and money-oriented. He begins to change all plans towards raising Birdbrain. *'Benito "Birdbrain" Stiles': The nephew of a murdered pickpocket, with thick curly ginger hair. He's cute but quiet and reserved, treated by Pinhead like a son. He's also a bit of a crybaby and adopts a dog capable of stealing wallets. It was intended that he be the son of an illustrious master thief named Arlo Radcliffe (which Fauna meant to be the protagonist of a novel she was making). *'Emma Bishop': A short, cute little woman with a ponytail who would put a robotic suit on in order to perform as a robotic Robin Hood. Her suit was made by her late roboticist father. *'Cain & Arbrook': Two young men working with Emma. Their father was shot to death by the mobster Babyface Malone, a man whose growth was stunted by the drug Neutralizers so he constantly looks 15 years old. Arbrook is out for vengeance for his father while Cain wants to date Clay Emmett's daughter. *'Lupus O'Hare and Ezra Guavarez': A highly-capable young art thief duo who happened to be lovers. Lupus was raised by an American smuggler couple and Ezra an expert in computers and robotics. They pose an enormous threat to Jack because of their access to technology and Lupus's disguise skills. They also work with a team of four women - Susan Yung, Mallory, Charmy Emmett, Nancy - who wear Playboy Bunny costumes and pack machine guns. *'Huntress Zuno': A ruthless, sexually-charged bounty hunter whom used to work with O'Hare and briefly was interested in Jack. She's incredibly hostile and only avoids shooting children when she's on the warpath. She is, in the faintest essence, a prototype of Cora Estallido. Episodes Two seasons were planned, with the whole series being prepared to be pitched as a TV series, but complications arose from the lack of a refined setting and from how some of the series seemed corny to Fauna. Over 21 episodes were planned, in addition to two specials, but only eight scripts that were started ever saw a proper end. These included: *'A Girl And Her Robot:' Lupus O'Hare poses as a talent scout and meets a robot scientist in a small mining town, hoping to use his controllable robot to steal diamonds. Jack is called in to investigate, but when the robot gets stolen after all, the scientist's daughter is the only one able to pilot it to save Lupus, Ezra and the miners. *'Blue Star:' Based on the urban legend of LSD-laced temporary tattoos, a mysterious old man begins selling them throughout town, leading to a number of children taking them and reacting badly. Byrd, Jack and Mara are brought in personally when Becky almost falls prey, and things get more disturbing when it turns out the man is doubling his numbers by appearing throughout town in two places at once via holograms. *'If The Law Don't Get Her, Then I Will:' Zuno is pursuing a man falsely accused of robbing a bank, to the point where he's driven into hiding for his safety. Jack falls for his fiancee, Bonnie, but realizes she was most likely the true robber in order to pay for their wedding rings. Features the only time Jack cheats the law to ensure the wrong person (here, Zuno) gets arrested. *'Pledging My Time:' Lupus and Ezra are being chased down by Zuno after she gets out of jail, and as they try to seek out sanctuary with Pinhead's gang, their backstories are shown in great detail. Jack and the detectives don't appear at all. Cancellation Fauna was extremely close to producing this version as a comic, but style conflicts, mainly via character designs that weren't coming together properly, bogged the project down. As well, the storylines of Pinhead wanting to free his mentor and find his girlfriend, Arbrook hunting Babyface, the Neutralizer addiction outbreak, Birdbrain growing up, Lupus and Ezra bonding, and Jack trying to keep the city together, all clashed together to a point that bordered on distracting. When Pinhead and Jack were deemed too bland as lead antagonist and protagonists, Fauna began a number of redesigns in the fall of 2010 that lead to the comic edition. Category:Series